Try, Try Again
by Vickerooni
Summary: Sakura and Kakashi are getting married, but the road getting there has been anything but smooth. Kakashi is kidnapped, Ino has a baby, and Sasuke can't handle the thought of Sakura getting married to their previous Sensei. Some comedy, some heartfelt moments, and lots of shenanigans ensue. If at first you don't succeed, darling...try, try again. KakaSaku!


Sakura stares down the woman in the mirror, cocooned in a majestic stark ivory mermaid dress with off-shoulder straps and a cathedral-style train. She worries the satin in her fingers, fiddling with the modest veil. Ino swats her hands away and tucks the headpiece expertly behind her bangs. The rest of her hair is twirled up into a large pink bun behind her ear, decorated with tiny white flowers. Ino gingerly places the bouquet – courtesy of the Yamanaka flower shop - in Sakura's trembling fingers and claps her hands, oozing exuberance.

Sakura tilts her head back and jabs her chin at her reflection, sizing it up.

"You're getting married today," she tells it with confidence. "You've waited a long time for this, and here it is." The trembling in her fingers shoots up her arms and settles in her stomach, releasing thousands of anxious butterflies. She inhales deeply, squaring her shoulders. "This is our day," she murmurs. _Shannaro!_

"Oh quit talking to yourself. The ceremony is about to start! We'd better get you in place," Ino squeals, taking Sakura's hand. The pinkette sticks a finger in her reflection's face.

"Don't you dare cry," she orders, her bottom lip already beginning to quiver.

Ino guides Sakura to the patio doors, _Canon in D_ just beginning to play. Ino gives Sakura a kiss on the cheek, smiles, and joins her place in line among the other maids of honor and groomsmen. Genma, the best man, takes Ino's arm and at their cue, saunters down the aisle with her. He shoots Sakura a warm grin and wink before disappearing through the doors, as if to tell her everything will be fine.

Kizashi appears at her side, startling her. He places calming hands on her shoulders and tells her to breathe.

"This is a big day," he says encouragingly, his blue eyes twinkling. "Your mother and I knew you'd get married someday. The groom is a bit of a surprise, though, if I'm being perfectly honest."

Sakura's smile withers slightly.

"Dad, if you have a problem with it, we can talk about it later, but there's no changing my mind—"

He gives her a delicate peck on the cheek, his mustache tickling her skin, and offers his arm, the cue arriving quickly. She curls hers through it almost reflexively.

"If he makes you truly happy, Sakura, then it makes me happy. In this life, that's all I can ever ask for, to see my daughter grown and happy."

Tears rush forward, screaming for release, and she sucks them down just as they step from the French doors onto the elegant Yamanaka lawn, outfitted with the most beautiful, fragrant flowers known to Konoha. It is a tamed jungle, choreographed to perfection.

Sakura blinks back the tears, the smile back stronger than ever, and she levels her gaze. Instantly she sees _him_ decked in a full tuxedo, that eternal hunch to his shoulders, waiting for her at the altar with his hands clasped at his front. Heat fills her face and more tears glaze her eyes. Kakashi's eyes widen and his breath leaves his lungs at the sight of her, an awed smile kicking up the corner of his masked lips. The powerful smile upon her own lips wobbles at his striking emotional response, and she thinks _finally this is happening. How many times has this been interrupted…?_ With a small, disbelieving shake of her head, she recounts the hardships it took to get to this precious moment.

"Goddamn it, Hatake. We're supposed to be taking our vows right now," Sakura hissed, working none-too-gently with the restraints gnawing at the flesh of his wrists.

"Ah, I tried to have the kidnappers pencil me in next week, but they couldn't do it any later," Kakashi replied flatly. "This shouldn't come as a surprise, you know. I am a former Hokage, after all. You knew there would be consequences from affiliating with me." His head swiveled over his shoulder to get a better look at her. He frowned. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"Subduing your captors. Or what's left of them. They had you up for ransom, the brats," she grunted. The ropes fell to the grimy dungeon floor and Kakashi worked the circulation back into his hands. "I'm still not exactly sure how they managed to capture you, _oh former Hokage,_ elite ninja and escapist extraordinaire." Sakura's eyebrow shot up, begging an answer.

Kakashi gave a shrug, unaffected by her mocking tone, and stretched his back, loosening his shoulders and cracking his neck.

"It was right after the bachelor party, Sakura. Sake dulls the senses, and I had enough to knock out a horse. You can blame Genma for that. Anyway, I didn't see the point in struggling once I realized what was happening. I knew you'd come rescue me," he teased, ruffling her hair. She swatted his hand away, jabbing a finger at his sternum and hovering her face close to his. She was rolled up on the tips of her toes, and still couldn't reach exact eyelevel.

"Do you know how much of a ransom they demanded?" she asked, articulating every syllable while her hand fisted the front of his vest.

"Mm? How much?"

"Not enough, or else I wouldn't be here," she murmured. He grinned when her fingers came up to peel away the mask, and the hand at his front yanked him to her, lips colliding.

Kakashi's pocket buzzed incessantly, and it took him a few seconds to remember that it was his cell phone. Shortly after they'd begun dating, Sakura mandated that he have one, in case she ever needed him when he was lost on the path of life. With great reluctance, he grew accustomed to carrying it with him when they were separated.

Unsurprisingly, her name lit up the screen, her contact photo blowing him a kiss. He put down his chopsticks and dodged under the _Ichiraku_ hanging curtain to answer the call. The streetlights gently illuminated him in the dusk that had settled over the quiet village.

"Mm?"

"Kakashi!" Sakura bellowed, and he nearly pitched the phone across the packed dirt road in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, heart beating with frantic urgency. To any passerby, his face remained flat.

"Ino's having her baby!" Sakura panted. His stomach churned. "It looks like she'll be in labor for a long while."

"Tell her congratulations for me," Kakashi grunted, dialing back the frustrated edge that had worked its way into his voice. Sakura caught it and sighed.

"I know it's the night before the wedding, Kakashi, but I can't get married tomorrow! At a time like this?!"

Kakashi's heart dove into the stomach acid bubbling in his gut. He kicked at a loose rock in the street.

"So what do you propose?"

"Can we move it back another month?" she begged, an apologetic shell enveloping her words.

"We've already moved it back a month, Sakura. The caterers and the guests aren't going to be pleased with us," he admonished.

"I know," she pleaded, and he softened. "If I could have timed this better, I would, but the baby decided to come tonight, of all nights, and it's putting her in critical condition. It seems this baby is taking after his father's penchant for insensitivity."

Kakashi sighed again, rubbing his forehead and leaning back against the ramen shop's entrance.

"Okay. Can we make it two weeks instead?"

"Yes, two weeks is fine." A shrill shriek blasted through the receiver. "I need to go help Ino. Don't wait up for me tonight."

"I won't," he assured her, and hung up. He drilled the heels of his gloved palms into his eye sockets before throwing his head back and gazing up at the stars.

"Naruto and Sasuke 'accidentally' obliterated the chapel. Tsunade told me this morning during my shift," Sakura tossed out from her perch in the kitchen, playing with the tea bag floating in her mug. "Apparently Naruto was attempting to talk some sense into him and it ended up as it usually does…unresolved, and messy."

Kakashi's head fell onto the spine of the sofa with a soft _whump_ , a sigh of exasperation pressing from his lungs.

"There goes our minister _and_ venue. Couldn't they have waited two damn days to level the village? The wedding is already a month and a half past due."

Sakura slipped from the table, sidling up to Kakashi to sit on his lap, coiling her hands around his neck. Her legs hung over the low arm of the couch.

"Don't worry. I went to visit them and left a few bruises of my own, on our behalf," she added, mock sweetness coating her tone. She kissed at the troubled creases around Kakashi's frown, willing it away with her affection. With another sigh, his hands came to rest on her hip, fingers knotted.

"Should we take this as a sign, Sakura? This will be the third time we've had to make major changes to our plans," he murmured.

It was her turn to heave a sigh.

"Should we? It _is_ merely a formality, I suppose… What does getting married really mean to us anyway? You know, as ninja? It's not like I get any consolation money if you die on a mission or anything," she said, biting her lip.

Kakashi drew her away from him and blinked in confusion, eyes searching under a furrowed brow.

"Don't you want to get married, Sakura?" he inquired, head cocked and eyes squinted.

She continued worrying her bottom lip between her teeth until he tugged at it with the rough pad of his thumb, removing her idle distraction. Her eyes connected with his and she was pinned in place.

"Yes," she answered honestly in a single breath, but an odd lilt to her tone kept Kakashi's sights trained hard on her. "But now that we're so close, I'm a little…scared." Her hands tightened at the nape of his neck in apprehension.

His shoulders relaxed and he brought his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. Her eyebrows flickered up in shock.

"Scared?" he breathed, an incredulous laugh rolling from his tongue. "Sakura, I'm petrified. Marriage was never in the books for me. I never planned on this. And I'm so terrified of doing it wrong, of screwing things up so badly that you want to leave. I don't know the first damn thing about being a husband."

One hand came up to stroke through her free locks and rest at the seam of her head and neck, turning her face more fully toward him.

"But then I get this vision of you in my bed with the morning sun over your body and in your hair, your toes wiggling under the sheet as you sleep…and to know that you're utterly and completely mine, by law because of that stupid fucking rock on your finger, and otherwise…well, let the records show that we made it official. I don't have a clue what it means to be married. What I do know is that I want you now, and for the rest of my life, whether it's two more years or twenty."

Her eyes were wide when he looked at her again, tears perched at the corners of shimmering emeralds.

"You…you've never said anything like that before," she stuttered, the shock freezing her lips. He flinched back as if she'd raised a hand against him, an abused pup. She combed her hands through his hair and brought his face to hers, a soft kiss placed on his lips. "It was lovely, Kakashi. I'm surprised in a good way, a _very_ good way."

His knotted fingers on her hip tightened, and his arms pulled her flush to his chest. Sakura tugged them both down onto the cushions of the couch, burying him under a barrage of kisses.

With conscious effort, Sakura puts one high-heeled foot in front of the other on the red carpet aisle, her vision tunneling down to the man dressed in black at the end. Naruto stands just off to his side, a huge grin on his face, donned in the long white robes of a minister.

The song finishes, the orchestra fading out, and Kizashi kisses Sakura on the cheek once more, gripping her hand in both of his with moisture in his eyes. Sakura bites her lip as he walks away to sit next to her mother in the front row who already has a tissue to her mouth and eyes.

Sakura turns to face her companion. Delicately he curls her fingers into his and tilts his head meaningfully at her.

"This is it," he mouths, and she understands it despite the cloth covering his lips.

Sakura sucks in her lips and nods.

Naruto begins the ceremony by welcoming everyone to the event, and jokes about it taking so long to get here. Sakura can only focus on half of what he says; the man across from her is incredibly distracting, as well as the visions of their honeymoon in the Land of Lightning and the private hot springs they had waiting for them.

Kakashi squeezes her fingers and a pleasant shiver runs through her. She refocuses on Naruto's introduction just as he opens the floor to anyone who may object to the matrimony.

A black and white blur bursts from the crowd, tearing toward the couple. Naruto curses and springs forward. Kakashi's arms bundle Sakura up and sweep her behind him, putting himself between her and the attacker. He crouches just as Naruto zeroes in on the blur.

" _No_! You had your chance! Now leave. Her. _Alone!_ " Naruto shouts, leveling his adversary with a single chakra-packed punch. It all happens so quickly Sakura blinks twice and it's already over.

Sasuke is in a heap on the grass beside the altar, groaning. Naruto shakes his fist and rights his robes, striding back to the altar. Sakura considers him with wide eyes, her adrenaline spiking and heart thrumming hard in her chest.

"I love him, but man is he a pain sometimes," he grunts. "I couldn't stop him from destroying the chapel, but I sure as hell won't let him interrupt this day," he adds as an afterthought before pasting on his grin and jumping back into the ceremony.

Sakura shakes the odd event off and resumes staring at her soon-to-be husband. She giggles inwardly. _Husband._ She says it again. _Kakashi is about to be my_ husband.

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Naruto asks Kakashi, and it jars Sakura from her thoughts. Her heart beats wildly in her chest. Yes, he's going to be her husband…but _she's_ going to be his _wife!_

"I do," Kakashi answers smoothly, with a smile.

"Sakura, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Naruto beams with excitement.

"I do," she says quickly, attempting to control the eager squeak.

Mirai Sarutobi toddles up to the couple with a red velvet pillow in her small hands, which she presents to Naruto proudly. Kakashi plucks the simple ivy-like ring from the fabric and deliberately slips it over Sakura's finger.

"These rings signify the eternal bonds we have with each other, as well as the outward symbol of our commitment. You wear this ring as if wearing the love you have for the person who gave it to you, openly reminding everyone to whom you belong, from this moment forward," Naruto declares.

Sakura guides Kakashi's polished silver ring onto his hand, warming through at the sight of it on his finger. _I am yours,_ she thinks, attempting to contain her grin, _and you are mine._

"And with the exchange of these rings, the ceremony is complete. You may kiss the bride," Naruto authorizes Kakashi. "No, really, kiss her. Like, hurry, before something else happens."

A wave of laughter ripples through the crowd. Kakashi slides his arms around Sakura, one hand on the nape of her neck and the other on the small of her back, sealing their vows with a magical kiss that makes the crowd go wild. Her hands slip to his shoulders, deepening the embrace and pulling him down into the kiss. Ino catcalls from beside the altar. Naruto shouts something of a war cry and the couple is consumed in a combination of thrilled and relieved applause.

They exchange elated grins and turn to walk back down the aisle, rice and sakura blossoms raining down on them. Kakashi hovers his lips near her ear, and whispers, "I love you," absolutely melting her heart. She nearly stumbles over her shoes at the words. Those three words are not words he has a tendency to utter often – show, certainly, but not say. It makes it all the more sweet when he murmurs them in her favorite low tone.

"I love you, too," she replies, with her heart in her throat, and the tears roll free.


End file.
